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John Fay (1641-1690)
}} Biography The surname Fay is frequently found in France, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and less frequently in a number of other European lands. It has connection to the Huguenots and early English and Irish records. English Ancestry There has been much speculation about his English parentage, but nothing definitive as of yet. 1656 Migration to America He first arrived in New England from Gravesend England on the Speedwell on 27 June 1656. (possible at age 16 Settlement in Marlborough He first went to Sudbury MA and then onwards to Marlborough MA where he was admitted as a freeman in 1669. At the time he appears to be married with one child. His name first appears in rown records in 1671 on a petition for a grant of land. In 1675 he was one of the proprietors of Worcester MA and had a lot assinged him in the eastern squadron, lying next to the county road to Boston. However, he continued his residence in Marlborough until its dangerous situation in the King Philip's War compelled settlers to move to more well-defended towns. for safety. 1681 Indian Plantation Source: BOOK: History of the Brigham Family p. 27: At the time of Philip's War, they fled to Watertown. On their return, such was the feeling against Indian perfidy, a petition was made to the General Court to divide the 6000-acre " Indian Plantation," a part of and contiguous to Marlboro. Although this was denied, the people, under the leadership of John Brigham, took a deed from the Indians to these lands, 15 July, 1684; and though this was declared " null and void " by the General Court, the white proprietors proceeded to divide and settle these lands, under the supervision of their agent, the said John Brigham, who was their surveyor. In the 1686 list of proprietors we find the names of all the young Brighams, and their alliances, for the first time set out, viz.: Mercy Hunt (former widow of the Puritan Brigham, who before this time had married her third husband, William Hunt, also then dead), Thomas Brigham, John Brigham, Samuel Brigham, John Fay, (husband of Mary Brigham), and William Ward (husband of Haimah Brigham). Feeling uneasy over the adverse action of the Court, in 1683, the proprietors agreed that their grants " shall stand good to all intents and purposes, if they be attested by John Brigham, their Clerk." And so it stood, until, after a generation, having acquired title by possession, the General Court confirmed it. P57: NOTE 4.—SALE BY HEIRS OF THOMAS^ BRIGHAM, 1681 We Thomas Brigham, John Brigham, Samuel Brigham & William Ward, all of Marlbury in the County of Middlesex, Husbandmen, for & in consideration of fifteen pounds of currant money of New England, by us already received of Nicholas Fessenden of Cambridge in the same county, Glover . . . sold . . . unto said Nicholas Fessenden a platt of meadow & swamp lying in Cambridge bounds, conteyning about ten acres, as it is stated in the town book, be it more or less bounded, the above Nicholas Fessenden Southerly, Monotoma River westerly, the great swamp easterly, formerly in the possession of Edward Senr . . . In witness whereof we the abovesd Thomas Brigham, Jno Brigham, Samuell Brigham, & William Ward and or wives Mary & Sarah Brigham with Hannah Ward in acknowledgement of our free consent to this act 6 deed of our husbands & ye utter relinquishing of or Dower right in the above granted ... ye 27tii day of ye lOt^i m the year of o' Lord God . . . 1681. (scale) Thomas Brigham. John Brigham (seale) Samuel Brigham (seale) William Ward (seale) (Mid. Beg., viii. 134.) P72: At a meeting of the proprietors, in December of the same year, continues Hudson, it was voted that Major Hincksman and others "should have the thousand acres of land which was surveyed by John Brigham, and. signified by the plats under his hand, should be recorded in the Company's Book of Records, so that it make a final settlement of all differences about the said land, as to any further claimes." Among the fifty-two proprietors were included John, Samuel and Thomas, sons of Thomas^ Brigham, Mercy Hunt, their mother, and 'John Fay and William Ward, who had married their sisters... ' Retirement to Watertown He later retired to Watertown where his first wife died and he again married. There he became the trustee of the estate of Reynold Bush of Cambridge. He was one of number who attempted to settle Worcester in 1678, but did not remain, instead returning to his old home in Marlboro where he died 05 Dec 1690. John's Estate John's sons each inherited large tracts of land, bearing witness to the worldly success of this man. Marriage & Family 1st Marriage: Mary Brigham He married first to Mary Brigham (-1676), born in Watertown, daughter of Thomas Brigham, the American ancestor of the New England family. Theirs was the first of nearly 30 marriages between the Fays and Brighams. Their children were all born in Marlboro MA. # John Fay (1669-1747) - md Elizabeth Wellington - 11 children. # David Fay (1671-1672) - died young # Samuel Fay (1673-1732) - one of the first settlers of Westboro MA. # Mary Fay (1675-1751) - md Jonathan Brigham - 10 children 2nd Marriage: Susann Shattuck He married after Mary's death to Susanna Shattuck on 15 July 1678, daughter of William Shattuck the pioneer of Watertown MA where she was born in 1643. She survived her second husband and married a third, Thomas Brigham, a brother of John Fay's first wife. She had seven children by her first hustband and four by her second.. # David Fay (1679-1738) - md Sarah Larkin - 12 children # Gershom Fay (1681-1720) - md Mary Brigham - 7 children # Ruth Fay (1684-) - md Increase Ward - 2 children # Deliverance Fay (1686-1712) - md Benjamin Shattuck - 2 children References # Genealogical and Family History of Western New York: Vol II by W.R. Cutter - page 662-665 / Free on Google Books # John Fay 1641 List of Famous Descendants Category:Migrants from Scotland to Massachusetts